What is this?
My therapist told me I needed a hobby outside of my job. So here are the things that bring me joy: I love to take walks, make + drink coffee, journal, and buy fun domain names.
On walking
Growing up, my parents would take us abroad and we’d always walk everywhere because cabs were too expensive and the public transportation systems were too confusing.
Now, as an adult, walking is one of my favorite things to do alone and with company. Over the years, I’d often have my camera with me and this practice became a great way for me to observe more deeply than I normally would. My career started in music and editorial photography. I always thought I was too shy for "real" street photography. Going on these walks has helped me feel more confident about taking pictures outside the constraints of a regular photojournalistic assignment. It's helped me take photos for fun again.
On Coffee
I got into coffee two years ago when I purchased my first espresso machine. I got a Breville Barista Pro for practical reasons—it was affordable and already had a built-in grinder. Then I immediately went into deep research mode. As soon as the machine arrived, I made the internal burr adjustments recommended by Reddit and replaced the standard portafilter with a bottomless one. I got a WDT tool and a force tamper, and I always only brewed manually.
Like most people starting out in this wretched hobby, I started with dark roast beans then worked my way to medium roast. This year, I've started gravitating towards light roast. My favorite coffee roasters right now are Hydrangea Coffee Roasters and Canyon Coffee. I mostly stick with California-based roasters, but will occasionally order from out of state roasters like Onyx Coffee Lab (Arkansas) and Black & White Roasters (North Carolina).
I'm not an expert
As an amateur, it's possible I may end up writing things down that are just flat out wrong. I apologize.
My setup
I have a Breville Barista Pro, a Lagom Casa grinder and soon, a La Marzocco Linea Mini R. At some point, I'd like to add a flat burr grinder to my coffee bar.
Coffee Map
In my travels, I will walk as far as I can for great coffee. (It's a thing about me that my travel companions find REALLY endearing. They don't hate me at all when I insist on this.) Friends often ask me for coffee recommendations when they're off somewhere they know I've been to before. I wanted to have a place where I took note of these great places so I made this map. I will keep updating it as I discover new places that I like. Enjoy!
P.S. If you found my coffee map useful, would you let me know? I'd love that!